Enrollment Trends for U.S. colleges

Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 14,795,971 students were enrolled in U.S. colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population increased by 9% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a increase of 6.68% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 16.14% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more women students than men, with a ratio of 1.36 women to 1 man.
- Women Enrollment: Women students total 8,536,559 and have increased by 12.01% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Men students total 6,259,412 and have increased by 4.44% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 3,842,603 students (25.97%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 92% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 14,019,138, and 14,795,971 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 78.41% are undergraduate students and 21.59% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students increased by 1,315,279, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 449,444.

The women to men ratio is 1.36 to 1, meaning that there are more women students enrolled in U.S. colleges than men students.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at U.S. colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	13,615,040	10,743,870	4,794,179	5,949,691	2,871,170	1,199,319	1,671,851
2015-16	13,747,419 132,379	10,835,581 91,711	4,828,983 34,804	6,006,598 56,907	2,911,838 40,668	1,214,832 15,513	1,697,006 25,155
2016-17	13,837,904 90,485	10,881,788 46,207	4,834,380 5,397	6,047,408 40,810	2,956,116 44,278	1,219,705 4,873	1,736,411 39,405
2017-18	13,860,971 23,067	10,867,805 -13,983	4,814,722 -19,658	6,053,083 5,675	2,993,166 37,050	1,219,494 -211	1,773,672 37,261
2018-19	13,923,416 62,445	10,881,192 13,387	4,783,853 -30,869	6,097,339 44,256	3,042,224 49,058	1,221,943 2,449	1,820,281 46,609
2019-20	13,973,803 50,387	10,879,885 -1,307	4,737,214 -46,639	6,142,671 45,332	3,093,918 51,694	1,224,843 2,900	1,869,075 48,794
2020-21	14,002,715 28,912	10,805,175 -74,710	4,633,916 -103,298	6,171,259 28,588	3,197,540 103,622	1,245,078 20,235	1,952,462 83,387
2021-22	13,894,590 -108,125	10,619,461 -185,714	4,554,972 -78,944	6,064,489 -106,770	3,275,129 77,589	1,272,543 27,465	2,002,586 50,124
2022-23	14,146,834 252,244	10,909,499 290,038	4,689,203 134,231	6,220,296 155,807	3,237,335 -37,794	1,266,066 -6,477	1,971,269 -31,317
2023-24	14,411,854 265,020	11,137,350 227,851	4,811,208 122,005	6,326,142 105,846	3,274,504 37,169	1,289,785 23,719	1,984,719 13,450
2024-25	14,795,971 384,117	11,461,325 323,975	4,953,130 141,922	6,508,195 182,053	3,334,646 60,142	1,306,282 16,497	2,028,364 43,645
Average	14,019,138	10,911,176	4,766,887	6,144,288	3,107,962	1,243,626	1,864,336

U.S. colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 10,911,176. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students increased by 717,455 from 10,743,870 to 11,461,325.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at U.S. colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	10,743,870	8,082,763	3,664,204	4,418,559	2,661,107	1,129,975	1,531,132
2015-16	10,835,581	8,137,066	3,685,549	4,451,517	2,698,515	1,143,434	1,555,081
2016-17	10,881,788	8,143,746	3,678,808	4,464,938	2,738,042	1,155,572	1,582,470
2017-18	10,867,805	8,146,814	3,671,216	4,475,598	2,720,991	1,143,506	1,577,485
2018-19	10,881,192	8,169,025	3,651,707	4,517,318	2,712,167	1,132,146	1,580,021
2019-20	10,879,885	8,136,342	3,606,643	4,529,699	2,743,543	1,130,571	1,612,972
2020-21	10,805,175	8,027,019	3,498,655	4,528,364	2,778,156	1,135,261	1,642,895
2021-22	10,619,461	7,881,426	3,435,339	4,446,087	2,738,035	1,119,633	1,618,402
2022-23	10,909,499	7,927,047	3,468,440	4,458,607	2,982,452	1,220,763	1,761,689
2023-24	11,137,350	8,114,807	3,562,252	4,552,555	3,022,543	1,248,956	1,773,587
2024-25	11,461,325	8,352,690	3,671,377	4,681,313	3,108,635	1,281,753	1,826,882
Average	10,911,176	10,911,176	3,599,472	4,502,232	10,911,176	1,167,415	1,642,056

U.S. colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 3,107,962. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 463,476 from 2,871,170 to 3,334,646.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at U.S. colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	2,871,170	1,647,027	735,616	911,411	1,224,143	463,703	760,440
2015-16	2,911,838	1,670,004	745,817	924,187	1,241,834	469,015	772,819
2016-17	2,956,116	1,691,127	747,364	943,763	1,264,989	472,341	792,648
2017-18	2,993,166	1,707,931	742,704	965,227	1,285,235	476,790	808,445
2018-19	3,042,224	1,734,645	740,758	993,887	1,307,579	481,185	826,394
2019-20	3,093,918	1,763,723	740,015	1,023,708	1,330,195	484,828	845,367
2020-21	3,197,540	1,796,802	733,939	1,062,863	1,400,738	511,139	889,599
2021-22	3,275,129	1,870,200	763,192	1,107,008	1,404,929	509,351	895,578
2022-23	3,237,335	1,897,740	780,358	1,117,382	1,339,595	485,708	853,887
2023-24	3,274,504	1,941,909	803,779	1,138,130	1,332,595	486,006	846,589
2024-25	3,334,646	1,994,400	813,995	1,180,405	1,340,246	492,287	847,959
Average	3,107,962	3,107,962	758,867	1,033,452	3,107,962	484,759	830,884

U.S. colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 43.66% and the percentage of black students is 11.20% at U.S. colleges. 7.18% of enrolled students is Asian.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at U.S. colleges over the past 11 years (2014-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2014-15	81,606	803,491	1,559,852	1,839,785	38,850	7,283,657	408,407
2015-16	79,708	826,686	1,564,083	1,937,525	37,121	7,239,863	429,297
2016-17	79,464	852,993	1,559,281	2,030,769	36,591	7,205,789	441,938
2017-18	77,618	876,331	1,561,512	2,118,685	36,625	7,152,690	466,702
2018-19	76,343	903,093	1,565,315	2,196,613	36,250	7,097,157	488,221
2019-20	75,427	928,651	1,568,644	2,271,619	36,200	7,040,731	510,317
2020-21	73,912	973,303	1,578,628	2,341,875	35,951	7,008,546	530,001
2021-22	73,851	1,003,299	1,541,472	2,345,598	35,409	6,829,275	532,139
2022-23	75,129	1,040,485	1,576,906	2,541,657	36,608	6,747,514	548,249
2023-24	77,829	1,070,162	1,636,001	2,642,993	35,745	6,726,174	577,296
2024-25	80,486	1,103,691	1,723,193	2,797,429	35,428	6,714,892	605,060
Average	77,398	943,835	1,584,990	2,278,595	36,434	7,004,208	503,421

U.S. colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

3,842,603 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 25% of total students. The number of online students has increased 153.78% since 2013.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at U.S. colleges from 2012 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	13,168,404	1,514,130	1,587,032	10,067,242
2013-14	13,262,402	1,661,667	1,678,840	9,921,895
2014-15	13,615,040	2,004,246	1,782,487	9,828,307
2015-16	13,747,419	2,082,560	1,980,553	9,684,306
2016-17	13,837,904	2,193,448	2,185,106	9,459,350
2017-18	13,860,971	2,282,665	2,379,396	9,198,910
2018-19	13,923,416	2,415,191	2,500,247	9,007,978
2019-20	13,973,803	2,586,411	2,628,295	8,759,097
2020-21	14,002,736	6,388,135	4,302,917	3,311,684
2021-22	13,894,590	3,775,319	4,351,370	5,767,901
2022-23	14,146,834	3,517,737	3,992,261	6,636,836
2023-24	14,411,854	3,642,623	4,060,409	6,708,822
2024-25	14,795,971	3,842,603	4,170,249	6,783,119
Average	13,895,488	2,915,903	2,892,243	8,087,342

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